# Why is location so often left blank?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [April 8, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498 "2002-04-08T15:26:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498/21 "2002-04-13T00:38:33Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by adam yax \*  
> \*\*You aren’t supposed to put in your real location, but rather a nifty little something to display your wit. \*\*

Some of us prefer precision over wit. 🆒

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**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498/22 "2002-04-13T15:34:12Z")

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Barstow is also mentioned in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_. I believe that’s as far as Thompson got the first time he tried to go back to LA.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498/23 "2002-04-14T12:28:45Z")

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::tips the hat to **5-HT** ::

To me, that’s the iconic reference that has cemented Barstow forever in the popular culture: the opening sentence of _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_. For the uninitiated, here’s the whole first paragraph:

> [@](#):
>
> We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive…” And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?”

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \*  
> \*\*Come on gazpacho! Spill the beans! \*\*

::groan::

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by adam yax \*  
> \*\*You aren’t supposed to put in your real location, but rather a nifty little something to display your wit. \*\*

I think two things are going on here. One is that some of us who didn’t mind having our approximate location residing a click away, in our profiles, decided we _did_ mind it appearing next to every post we made. The other thing is the opportunity to put a cute blurb next to every post, to which you refer.

Some of them already need to be retired from overuse - particularly the variations on “in my own little world” and “in front of my computer”. Some of 'em are pretty funny, though.

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**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-location-so-often-left-blank/102498/24 "2002-04-14T14:47:39Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by adam yax \*  
> \*\*You aren’t supposed to put in your real location, but rather a nifty little something to display your wit. \*\*

You’re right. I really live in Lawrence.

BWA HA HA!!! Fools! You fell for the oldest trick in the book! Never trust a Kansan.

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